1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for conveniently cleaning paint from a paint roller cover while the cover is still on the roller frame.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A paint roller is a convenient tool to use, but often a messy and time-consuming one to clean. Washing all the paint out of the roller cover underneath a water tap, the most basic technique, is inefficient. It requires a large quantity of water and vigorous rubbing, and is likely to result in paint sprays, a stubborn residual layer of paint, and a wet roller that is difficult to get dry. Accordingly, numerous inventions have been created to streamline the cleaning process. Many inventions take advantage of the structure of the typical roller, which includes a grippable handle on a rigid frame, with the rigid frame having various bends and ending in a rotatable mounting piece. In use, the rotatable mounting piece is fitted with a fabric cover, of some nappiness and often having a cardboard core.
The rotatable mounting piece lends itself to the use of jets of cleaning fluid in an enclosed housing. If configured correctly, the jets can cause the mounting piece to rotate swiftly, with the impact of the water (or other cleaning fluid) removing the majority of the paint. Although an improvement on the basic tap method, many of the devices incorporating such jets do have various drawbacks. One problem is a lack of versatility, as for instance in the ability to vary the distance between the jets and a roller being cleaned. Certainly versatility in this and similar areas is to be desired, particularly if it can be achieved without a noticeable increase in cost.
Another problem with current devices is that the mechanism for securing the roller for cleaning is often awkward and time-consuming to use. Some devices use a spindle mechanism, on one or both ends of the roller to be cleaned. This arrangement often requires careful and delicate positioning. Other devices may use a combination of adjustable clamps, notches, slots, and braces, with the adjustment of the clamps obviously entailing another period of time, and possibly a period of frustration if perfect adjustment does not quickly result. Still other devices may dispense with clamps, and use notches, slots, and braces only. Two known devices use detachable locating members for locating a roller: one has resilient internal fingers, while the other uses a bracket with screw fasteners. However, it is desirable and not previously seen to have a paint roller cleaner, outfitted to accept a flow of fluid, which includes a frame guide separate from a main housing, with the frame guide clipping securely but detachably to a roller frame and making it easy to quickly and reliably secure the roller in a proper position within the main housing. It is moreover desirable to have the frame guide configured for versatility and inexpensive manufacture, such that one or more frame guides may be provided allowing for one or more of the following variations, such as the size of the roller, roller nap thickness, roller frame wire size and/or configuration, and desired location of the roller within the housing.
Numerous patents have issued for devices that clean roller covers. Warn Bailey U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,4559, issued on Nov. 17, 1992, discloses an apparatus for cleaning roller covers that involves detaching a cover from its roller. Because the cover is disengaged from the rotatable mounting piece, the general mechanism described above is not applicable. Instead, the apparatus uses turbulent fluid flow within a small enclosed space to clean the cover.
Paint roller cleaner devices that do use fluid jets to rotate the rotatable mounting piece of a roller, and thus spray clean the attached roller cover, are numerous. Devices of this type that incorporate spindle mechanisms to secure a roller are described in Donald K. Spivey U.S. Pat. No. 3,428,060, issued on Feb. 18, 1969; Raymond H. Sherwin U.S. Pat. No. 4,130,124, issued on Dec. 19, 1978; William C. Klaiber U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,272, issued on Oct. 13, 1981; Jerry J. Harvey U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,158, issued on Jan. 19, 1982; Mario C. Coronato U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,012, issued on Aug. 24, 1993; United Kingdom Patent Application No. 2,072,001A, published on behalf of Gerhard Forstar et al. on Sep. 30, 1981; and United Kingdom Patent Application No. 2,219,732A, published on behalf of William Pennington on Dec. 2, 1989.
Some patents have issued for roller cleaner devices that use extended horizontal holding trays to help secure a paint roller. Among these are David O. Shipman U.S Pat. No. 4,832,066, issued on May 23, 1989; Ronald E. Hodgdon U.S. Pat. No. 5,00,598, issued on Apr. 9, 1991; and Walter T. Fuller U.S. Pat. No. Des. 267,123, issued on Nov. 30, 1982.
Other patents have issued to roller cleaner devices in which notches, slots, and braces or the like are used in conjunction with adjustable clamps in order to secure a roller. John M. Conley et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,673, issued on Feb. 10, 1987, and Charles E. Patterson U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,728, issued on Oct. 20, 1987, both demonstrate devices of this type.
Notches, slots, and braces are used, without adjustable clamps, to secure paint rollers within roller cleaning apparatuses in a number of patents. Among such patents are Ralph A. Krueger U.S. Pat. No. 3,886,960, issued on Jun. 3, 1975; LLoyd W. Brandt U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,987, issued on Jun. 16, 1987; Paul A. Pennise U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,722, issued on Mar. 7, 1989; and William A. Phipps U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,928, issued on Mar. 17, 1992.
Two patents disclose devices for cleaning paint rollers that include detachable locating members for use in securing a roller. Richard F. Rossborough et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,28, issued on Dec. 8, 1987, discloses an apparatus in which the locating member grips the roller frame by means of a series of internal resilient fingers. The shape, placement, and proportions of the locating member are, however, such that it would be ungainly to retain on the roller frame during the painting process.
Orrin Marshall Wright et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,797, issued on Aug. 5, 1975, discloses a device that includes a bracket which, tightened with fastening means such as screw fasteners, fits around part of the frame of a roller. It is disclosed that the bracket may be kept on a particular roller while painting, eliminating the necessity of serially removing and replacing it. However, when removing or replacing is undertaken, use of a time-consuming fastener such as a screw fastener is necessary, since the bracket involves two plates clasped around the roller frame. Furthermore, although it is noted in the patent that the bracket "is designed of a shape and placed at a location on the [paint roller] applicator as to not interfere with normal use," the bracket does jut out noticeably from the roller. Moreover, in the primary embodiment, the bracket must be used in conjunction with a separate piece, a lid, which must be placed in exact position to function.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.